Friday, April 19, 2019

Returning to Warhammer Underworlds

Hey Everyone! Today I wanted to take you along for my journey back into Warhammer Underworlds. I originally played back when the Shadespire box was released, but it didn't get much traction in my local area for one reason or another and it eventually fell by the wayside for me. That has all changed recently and I am happy to be moving among hexes once more and I cannot wait to share my journey back into the game over the next few months!

It was a bit before Adepticon last month when I found myself being offered to play a game and relearn the system in order to play regularly once more. I politely declined, not because of any dislike for the game but due to a lack of time in being able to dedicate myself to it in any real fashion. Flash forward to the drive out to Adepticon where my good friend Matt brought up this same subject and offered me an easy way to jump back in as he collected every set and would be happy to loan me anything for some games. Again I resisted as I felt I simply did not have the time to commit.

As I walked around the Age of Sigmar Hall at Adepticon I couldn’t resist walking by the Underworlds event and seeing everyone's warbands. I even asked Dave Witek of Garagehammer about his thoughts after he played a few pickup games and he spoke very highly and was encouraging to me to jump back in on the game. To compound this everyone who received a swag bag at the event was given a Warband, Card Sleeves, and Dice. My resistance was weakening despite my continued belief that I didn't have the time.

The week after Adepticon I decided to stop in at one of my FLGS to pick up some paint on my way home from work. It was a shop I didn't frequent often as it was a hub for 40k and X-Wing primarily, but I had friends that played there regularly and saying hello was always a good time. To my shock, the tables were taken up by quite a few games of Warhammer Underworlds. Over the past few months the game caught on there and they even began running leagues! I couldn’t resist any longer and purchased the Nightvault kit and returned a few weeks later to get some games in to relearn the mechanics.

It came quickly enough and I signed up for the next league starting at the end of this month and have found myself researching decks, considering the playstyle I am after, and working on a paint scheme for Tzeentch of all things! Although those Sylvaneth ones being released soon are very tempting...

One thing that has been a challenge returning to the game has been the flood of information when I wanted to look up different decks and how they play as my aim is to create something capable of winning while not simply copying an event-winning list. However, the internet was full of “Top Winning Decks” that contained cards from a plethora of warbands. It was hard to sort through, but I fell back on simply laying out my cards, reading them, and working from the ground up to build my own deck. In the long run, this is probably the better strategy, but I do wish I could find a resource to help players returning to the game like myself.

As I said above I joined the league at one of my FLGS and it looks like I will have a few games this weekend as well so you can expect semi-regular updates as my journey back to Underworlds continues. If you have any good resources you could point me towards I would be most appreciative and until next week, Happy Hobbying!